Introduction
National park on the Hengchun Peninsula, Taiwan
Kenting National ParkIUCN category II (national park)Cape Maobitou in Kenting National ParkLocation of Kenting National Park in TaiwanLocationTaiwanNearest cityHengchunCoordinates21°58′48″N 120°47′49″E / 21.98°N 120.797°E / 21.98; 120.797Area333 km2 (129 sq mi)Established1 January 1984Visitors8,376,708 (in 2014)Governing bodyKenting National Park Headquarters, National Park Service, Ministry of the Interior, TaiwanWebsitewww.ktnp.gov.tw
Kenting National ParkTraditional Chinese墾丁國家公園Simplified Chinese垦丁国家公园TranscriptionsStandard MandarinHanyu PinyinKěndīng Guójiā GōngyuánWade–GilesK'en3-ting1 Kuo2-chia1 Kung1-yüan2Southern MinHokkien POJKhún-teng kok-ka kong-hn̂g
Kenting National Park (Chinese: 墾丁國家公園; pinyin: Kěndīng Gúojiā Gōngyuán), commonly known as Kenting (Chinese: 墾丁; pinyin: Kěndīng), is a national park located on the Hengchun Peninsula of Pingtung County, Taiwan, covering Hengchun, Checheng, and Manzhou Townships. Established on 1 January 1984, it is Taiwan's oldest and the southernmost national park on the main island, covering the southernmost area of the Taiwan island along Bashi Channel. Administered by the National Park Service of the Ministry of the Interior, this national park is well known for its tropical climate and sunshine, scenic mountain and beach, the Spring Scream rock-band festival held in every March, and has long been one of the most popular tourist destinations in Taiwan with 5.84 million visitors in 2016.
Etymology
[edit]
Kenting (墾丁, Kun-ting in Taiwanese) means pathfinders or pioneers.
Geography
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The park covers about 181 square kilometres (70 mi2) of land, 152 square kilometres (59 mi2) of sea, weighing in at 333 square kilometres (129 mi2) combined. Nan Wan and Banana Bay (香蕉灣) is surrounded by the Pacific Ocean, the Taiwan Strait, and the Luzon Strait. The park is 90 kilometres (56 mi) away from Kaohsiung, 140 kilometres (87 mi) away from Tainan.
The landscape boasted by Kenting National Park is divided into two parts by the long and narrow Hengchun Longitudinal Valley Plain that extends from north to south. With coral sea cliffs teemed with fringing reefs along the west coast, the park features a large number of mountains in the north, and coral tablelands and foothills in the south. The plain, which is formed by fault valleys, has a vast lake called Longluan Lake, together with rising coral tablelands and limestone caves to the east. The east side of the coral tablelands features unique sand rivers and sand waterfalls formed by the combined effects of winds and rivers, as well as coral cliffs, sunken caves and stalactites.
Climate[edit]
Kenting is known for its tropical climate with warm to hot weather year-round. Along with the rest of Pingtung, the climate is geographically classified as a tropical monsoon climate.
Climate data for Kenting National Park (1991–2020 normals)
Month
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Year
Mean daily maximum °C (°F)
24.7(76.5)
25.6(78.1)
27.3(81.1)
29.4(84.9)
30.9(87.6)
31.6(88.9)
32.0(89.6)
31.7(89.1)
31.3(88.3)
29.9(85.8)
28.1(82.6)
25.5(77.9)
29.0(84.2)
Daily mean °C (°F)
21.1(70.0)
21.7(71.1)
23.3(73.9)
25.3(77.5)
27.2(81.0)
28.3(82.9)
28.6(83.5)
28.3(82.9)
27.7(81.9)
26.4(79.5)
24.7(76.5)
22.1(71.8)
25.4(77.7)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F)
18.5(65.3)
18.9(66.0)
20.3(68.5)
22.2(72.0)
24.2(75.6)
25.4(77.7)
25.7(78.3)
25.3(77.5)
24.9(76.8)
23.9(75.0)
22.3(72.1)
19.8(67.6)
22.6(72.7)
Average precipitation mm (inches)
35.7(1.41)
33.0(1.30)
22.4(0.88)
42.3(1.67)
135.5(5.33)
309.5(12.19)
343.8(13.54)
445.7(17.55)
315.9(12.44)
149.6(5.89)
74.7(2.94)
38.7(1.52)
1,946.8(76.66)
Average precipitation days
7.0
5.6
3.4
4.5
8.6
12.7
13.8
14.8
12.5
8.3
5.6
5.7
102.5
Average relative humidity (%)
73.6
74.5
74.3
75.8
78.4
83.3
83.2
83.0
80.4
74.1
72.9
72.2
77.1
Mean monthly sunshine hours
172.1
167.5
196.4
197.1
183.2
171.4
187.7
171.9
186.3
203.4
186.2
164.5
2,187.7
Source: Central Weather Administration (precipitation days 1995–2020)
